My Bangkok Debut: The Vagina Monologues

flashback to Jan 2016
"Hey Jaclyn, I'm Lauren. I'm the EAL teacher at AISB. I'll be working with you and your students all year long. Let me know if you ever need anything."
a few days later...
"Sure Jaclyn, I'll help you find an apartment. In fact, I'll bring you to talk to the manager of my building after school today."
a week later...
"Sure Jaclyn, you can borrow my extra pillows and bedding while you get situated."
a few weeks later...
"Jaclyn, you can absolutely use my vaccuum. In fact, I have two. Just keep this one in your apartment."
a few weeks after that...
"Hey Jaclyn, can I ask you a favor?"
[YES. OF COURSE. ABSOLUTELY. ANYTHING. FINALLY]
"I'm directing the Vagina Monologues and I've invited the entire staff at work to attend the performances. Would you please be part of my cast?"

Oh Shit. I can't believe I didn't see this one coming. You never can trust the nice ones, can you? Now what? Maybe, if I pay her an obnoxiously large apartment finders fee, replace her bedding with egyptian cotton and hire her a cleaning lady she'll reconsider asking me to go onstage in front of my brand new colleagues to talk about my vagina.


24 & 25 March 2016
After participating in the monologues (egyptian cotton was wayyy out of my price range) I've come to realize a few things:
-my dramatic reading skills are on point; my agent is currently taking offers for upcoming shows
-being onstage at an establishment that serves alcohol (to both the performers and the patrons) is way less scary than being onstage during a high school musical
-reading the experiences of brave, outrageous, poignant and lusty women will help you appreciate yourself and the women around you, including the 23 others in your cast and your 15 coworkers in the audience
-and last, but certainly not least, I realized that maybe, just maybe, you can trust the nice ones after all :)

Thanks Lauren, for giving me the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone, to make new friends, and to involve myself in a show that encourages dialogue among women everywhere.

Quiz Night

18 March 2016

Today was the conclusion of Readathon, a three week long fundraiser aimed at raising money to supply books for children less fortunate than those at AISB. To show our support, the staff organized a quiz night at a local German bar, Deutsches Eck. Not only did my trivia team win the "dressed for success" quiz round, but I also won during one of the individual rounds. I know what you're thinking: Jaclyn, you were never that big of an asset to your trivia teams in Chicago-- what changed? During Chicago trivia I was never asked to call heads or tails for not one, not two, but six coin flips. I dominated. Thank you Thailand for helping me showcase my real trivia talent. What were my prizes you ask? For the individual win, I received a middle eastern giftbox set- obviously the appropriate, and really only gift choice for coin toss trivia in Thailand. It was filled with Bangkok necessitites: a Qatar knit scarf, muslim prayer beads, a Qatar flag lapel pin and CD. But wait, there was more. It also contained a pocketwatch. A real, authentic pocketwatch. Watch out Bangkok hipsters, my new style is coming for you! For the team win, I received a coupon for a free brazilian wax. This may come in more handy than the Qatar scarf, but who can really know for sure? Thank you AISB for knowing, understanding and catering to my real needs in Bangkok.

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day the Bangkok Way

17 March 2016

Happy St. Patrick's Day! What better way to celebrate than with free margaritas at Coyote mexican bar? Ok, maybe not the best way to celebrate my IRISH heritage, but margaritas are green right? Don't worry, after Coyote we went to a proper Irish pub, The Dubliner. There was a live irish band, Guinness, Kilkenny and Ginny Weasley! What more could I want in my life? Bangkok, your St. Patty's Day spread ain't bad, ain't bad at all.

Taco Tuesday

15 March 2016
The new Luca Thaiger Taco Truck has arrived in Bangkok! The taco truck teamed up with Conkey's Bakery to host a food opening in Thong Lo. Emily, Julianne and I were so excited to try the tacos and tequila, however, when we arrived they had put a hold on orders. We sat for over an hour on the lawn, chatting with others who had come for the opening. Then, the Taco Truck ran out of food. NOOOOO! We had to find another option. We walked around Thong Lo and found a bar called Tuba. How did we decide to eat there? Well, let's just say the life size Hulk sculpture had A LOT to do with it.  

My first Flash Mob

5th March 2016

Did you know International Women's Day is Tuesday, March 8th? Did you know there even was a such thing as International Women's Day? In Bangkok, there's a group dedicated to making sure people know about  things like these: it's called Bangkok Rising, and it's a group that supports the global group, One Billion Rising. One of the girls I work with is part of the group and invited me to participate in the traveling flash mob they were putting together. We teamed up with another group, Capoeira Angola Bangkok, and brought together over 50 people for the flash mob. Capoeira Angola is a traditional African-Brazilian art form that combines music, dance, acrobatics and philosophy. We started at Benchasiri Park with a traditional Capoeira piece and then moved into the flash mob dance. After, we traveled to Siam Square Mall to perform and finally ended with a performance at Central World Mall. The day wasn't about putting anyone down, or getting in anyone's face or screaming and shouting "feminists" from the rooftops. It was about men and women of all ages coming together and doing something. together. It was about feeling empowered. It was about feeling connected. It was about feeling good.
In celebration, we posted photos of the event on our social media pages. Bloggers made some incredibly hateful comments toward the women in our photos. Instead of using social media to slander or shame or retaliate, Buzzfeed wrote an article featuring the men's rude and hateful comments. The need for puff or pizzazz was entirely noexistent: these comments spoke for themselves and brought about more awareness than ever regarding the importance of International Women's Day and groups, like One Billion Rising, that celebrate and support women everywhere.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/bangkokrising/6-ways-sexism-showed-itself-just-in-time-for-inter-27w24

Gardens by the Bay

28 Feb 2016: our last day in Singapore 

We woke up early and enjoyed yet another "free" breakfast at the hotel. Then we ventured to Gardens by the Bay, a "free" exhibit that houses a beautiful combination of gardens from across SE Asia. I write free in " " because the admission to the garden area is free, but all of the exhibits within the garden cost money. Womp. Womp. Womp. You got me again, Singapore! We did get to see some beautiful vegetation, as well as learn about different gardening traditions around the world. In India, women create kolam gardens (kolam is a rice flour chalk used to draw pictures), which are thought to bring prosperity to the home. The intricate details and color selections make these gardens gorgeous. It was great to do so many things in such a beautiful city!

What a View

27 Feb 2016
We had 2 choices: eat "free breakfast" (bread with jam) at our hostel or eat free breakfast (eggs, sausages, cereals, danishes, fruits, juices and coffees) at Dunlay's hotel. It was hardly a choice. After a hearty hotel breakfast, we headed to the Singapore Zoo. The zoo is built inside of the rainforest and occupies 26 hectares of land. It's huge! http://www.zoo.com.sg/
After seeing giraffes, monkeys, zebras and the like, we headed back to the hotel for rooftop beers and pool time. The view of Singapore was gorgeous.
That evening, we walked to the business district of the city so we could take advantage of the Singapore Flyer, an observation wheel that takes about a half hour to complete one rotation. Seeing the entire city lit up was absolutely amazing!
After riding The Flyer we walked along the water and found "Gluttons Bay" an area with tons of food stalls. Disclaimer: cashew nut chicken is usually one of the least spicy things you can order in SE Asia-- since Singapore is completely unlike the rest of SE Asia (you can flush toilet paper AND drink the tap water!) I should've assumed cashew nut chicken in Singapore would be different as well, but I didn't. Dinner left me panting and in tears. Your spiciness got me, Singapore!
After i recovered, we did some more walking along the river, our goal being to find a place to drink "Singapore Slings", a drink that has been hyped up by tourists, not locals. After passing bar after bar after bar we finally found a good spot to enjoy our Slings, which we tourists thought were worth the hype.

Seeing a star at The Star Theatre

26 Feb 2016
This weekend Tash, Todd, Emily and I traveled to Singapore. We slept over at my apartment Thursday night and then left for the airport early Friday morning. Tash and I usually have trouble traveling, but this time we got to the airport early, made it through security and even had time for a breakfast break before boarding-- only took us 3 months to get this traveling thing down. After landing in Singapore we took a taxi about half an hour to the Serangoon area. Our hostel was called The Hive-- it was the cheapest hostel we could find in Singapore and we soon learned all the reasons why. The highlight however, was the woman living under the stairs who kept round the clock watch of a gigantic dog kennel-- was there a dog in there? or was it something else? we're still not sure. We ate singaporean street food for lunch (which was actually quite good!) and then headed over to the tourist-y part of town, Clark Quay (pronounced "clarkee"). What're the odds Dunlay is in Singapore for work at the exact same time my friends and I are there for pleasure? What're the odds Dunlay's company puts him up in a very nice hotel in the most preferred part of town? What're the odds we basically become Dunlay's roommates for the next 48 hours? :)
We sat on the rooftop of the hotel and had drinks, then we headed to The Star Theatre to see Bon Iver live in concert. Bon Iver put on a great show, complete with lights, a full band and even some soundboarding, but the best part of the concert, by far, was when he got rid of it all and sang the accoustic version of Skinny Love. *Fun Fact: there aren't ticket scalpers in front of venues in Singapore, so if you don't have tickets beforehand you're SOL-- sorry Dunlay!
After the concert we went to the Clark Quay area to explore. It's a big square (right on the water) of bars and restaurants. It's all lit up and it's beautiful (but it's quite expensive!) We sat outside at an irish pub, listened to live music and sipped on $20 SD margaritas. (1 US dollar is equivalent to 1.4 Singapore dollars.)